"We are struggling with treatment as we found a large number of parasites in the soldier's stomach, invading and eating into the wounded areas," Lee Guk-jong, the physician who treated him, told the Review.

"We have also discovered a parasite never seen in Koreans before," Lee said. "It is making the situation worse and causing tremendous complications."

It's unclear whether the parasite has been seen in other parts of the world.

A professor at a medical school told the Review that North Korean defectors would often come to South Korea riddled with parasites, with one patient having more than 30 types of roundworms in her body. The problem is common among defectors, the professor said, but may not be reflective of the North Korean population.

But the case of this defector stands above the others — his small intestine is ruptured, contaminated with fecal matter, and infected with parasites, Lee told the Review.

"He has everything that he could have," Lee said. "It is very likely that the prognosis will be worse than other general trauma patients as he has been in a state of shock induced by heavy bleeding and we expect to deal with many complications."

Kim Jong Un May Have Caused a Parasitic Worm Epidemic in North Korea By Making Farmers Spread Human Faeces on Their Crops
C.paton
,Newsweek•November 17, 2017

The prevalence of parasitic worms causing health problems in North Korea may be the result of a personal intervention by Kim Jong Un, who urged farmers to spread human excrement on their fields to fertilize crops.

RTSNHGX
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shown on a visit to a farm in an undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim has been accused of issuing farmers with advice to use human excrement as fertilizer for their fields. (KCNA) " data-reactid="28" style="margin-bottom: 1em;">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shown on a visit to a farm in an undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim has been accused of issuing farmers with advice to use human excrement as fertilizer for their fields. (KCNA)

“In my over 20 year-long career as a surgeon, I have only seen something like this in a textbook,” the lead doctor working on the case, Lee Cook-jong, said.

The soldier, who has not been identified but is reportedly in his mid-20s, was flown to hospital on Monday after being shot several times while making his escape to South Korea. He was hit in the buttocks, his armpit the back of his shoulder and his knee as he was struck by a hail of bullets from his former North Korean comrades.